3 Dodgers who could be on chopping block after recent signings

This past weekend, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed outfielder David Peralta and reliever Alex Reyes to MLB contracts. That means once the deals become official, room will have to be made on the 40-man roster.

Somebody's gotta go! In fact, two players have to go. With spring training already here (players reported on Monday due to participation in the World Baseball Classic), these moves could come relatively soon.

Peralta figures to slot in as the starting left fielder (or at least a left-field option that will play in 120+ games) while Reyes could become a reliable back-end bullpen arm (his deal is loaded with incentives as the Dodgers seemingly hope to unlock his 2021 All-Star campaign).

There are some obvious candidates to get the boot, but then it seems there will be a particularly difficult decision to make. Can we expect a trade on the way, too?

OK, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Whether it's a DFA or a trade, these Dodgers are in danger of losing their 40-man roster spot.

3 Dodgers who could be on chopping block after recent signings

3. Andre Jackson

Jackson is heading into his age-27 season and has just 21.1 innings of major league action under his belt. With a dilapidated bullpen that's still full of question marks, the Dodgers can't possibly make 2023 the year in which Jackson is more heavily utilized. There's probably a reason he's yet to be elevated in the fashion many expected when he was a top prospect.

He's gotten rocked in each of the last two seasons at Triple-A Oklahoma City (4-10, 5.03 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in 27 games) and walked 10 batters in his brief MLB cameos. He has one minor-league option remaining, but is that even of any value at this point for the Dodgers?

Jackson is one of two relievers that seem like the logical choices to be replaced by Reyes, but he feels like the most likely because of his underwhelming body of work.

2. Phil Bickford

Some Dodgers fans thought Bickford would've already been gone, but the Dodgers did very little work at the onset of the offseason to address their needs. It's been a long, gradual process that's finally picked up some traction over the last couple weeks.

Bickford impressed in 56 games after he was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in 2021 (2.50 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 1.03 WHIP), but then followed that up with a 4.72 ERA, 4.26 FIP and 1.10 WHIP in 60 games last year. He improved upon his penchant for issuing walks ... but he was catching far too many barrels (third percentile in barrel percentage).

Both of his pitches seemingly lost effectiveness in different manners. Hitters logged a .193 batting average against his fastball in 2021 vs a .255 average in 2022. As for his slider, that pitch saw an expected batting average of .183 and a .304 slugging percentage in 2021 vs a .222 expecting batting average and .456 slugging percentage in 2022.

If Bickford was a lefty, perhaps he'd have a longer leash, but right now we're not sure how far his good vibes can carry him after the addition of Reyes.